tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post6371625722503141537..comments2022-03-02T14:58:50.045-08:00Comments on Joe Treasure: Singing in Lithuanian? It's all Greek to meUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-10753537406001391342013-08-02T17:16:26.833-07:002013-08-02T17:16:26.833-07:00Nice one Joe and it got me thinking about what kin...Nice one Joe and it got me thinking about what kind of exercise Summerhill kids CHOOSE to do before going back to their nannies in Hampstead. On a personal note, one of my few remaining memories of Haberdashers is wearing my scarf hidden under my rugby shirt and walking all but the last 500 meters of the cross country because my friend found a secret shortcut over a turnstile in the hill. It was the boys who who had nannies at home that didn't cheat. Many of them got into Oxbridge and went bonkers. Forgot to mention my Dad was born in Lithuania, but I think that might be relevant. My mother spoke German, but all that meant was she did my German homework so I had more time to collect football pictures and watch Doctor Who. Perhaps I should start apologizing to my kids for the things I forced them to do at 8 such as go to school in Cape Town and the Gold Coast. Hmm none of my post is making any sense at all.mikefurmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17289213924325762358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-45243304707258213262013-08-02T06:13:29.002-07:002013-08-02T06:13:29.002-07:00Joe, Thank you for another great piece. Those poor...Joe, Thank you for another great piece. Those poor kids, having to do something so uncomfortable as LEARN. That is possible at eight, isn't it? I attempted to apply your piece through the "No Child Left behind" and "charter school" filter we have hear in the US, where we keep pushing for conformity and standardization. All for the purpose of having a "Joe Versus the Volcano" job, which will eventually get outsourced anyway. If I knew at eight what I know now, I would have put a greater effort in my Hebrew and Spanish studies. If anything, I would have been more culturally aware a lot earlier.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516082029746355013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-81474718478544731092013-08-02T06:12:12.360-07:002013-08-02T06:12:12.360-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516082029746355013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-30223609897173400192013-08-02T01:18:13.378-07:002013-08-02T01:18:13.378-07:00Well put, Vic! And thanks, Phil, for the Czech per...Well put, Vic! And thanks, Phil, for the Czech perspective. When I taught, briefly, in Poland in the 90s, students could theoretically opt for Russian, German or English, but some had to do Russian anyway because the English and German classes were full. I felt sorry for these Russian teachers whose skills had become suddenly outmoded for reasons they couldn't have foreseen when they embarked on their careers. Joe Treasurehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452665782271458318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-21828391731415862552013-08-01T06:50:01.577-07:002013-08-01T06:50:01.577-07:00Good old predictable daily mail. (Which, like Gove...Good old predictable daily mail. (Which, like Gove, is usually as fond of the 'discipline in schools' mantra as the 'political correctness gone mad' one.) The only time it wants 8 year old to have control over their education is when its under threat from the terrifying spectre of...wait for it...Polish 8 year olds. Vichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01143437703582673932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262139109574458128.post-29187227906810284402013-07-23T13:03:47.389-07:002013-07-23T13:03:47.389-07:00You can always rely on the Daily Mail. Joe Moran, ...You can always rely on the Daily Mail. Joe Moran, an academic who blogs about daily life (its representation in books, diaries, newspapers, among other things), had an interesting post last month about his forays into the Daily Mail archive, tracing the newspaper's misgivings about immigration back to 1901 or so. His post is at: http://joemoransblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-daily-mail-archive.html<br /><br />In communist Czechoslovakia, pupils learned Russian at school, followed, I think, by German, the language of their GDR neighbours: no surprises there. Czechs and Slovaks being before their velvet divorce more equal partners than the English and Welsh, they picked up their respective tongues (which are, in any case, very similar – the comparison between the Welsh and English languages is scarcely relevant here). Our most linguistically able friend had all these, plus good Hungarian (and a respectable smattering of operatic Italian), but English (the language Czechs wanted to acquire because it was the lingo of the great eldoradoan dream) was out of the question until her exile in London.<br />Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.com